Kung Fu Panda: Age of Dishonor
by Ahha 'Vahatee
Summary: When an ancient threat rises against China, The Outsider and Oogway take Chris, a Dishonored fan and Kung Fu Panda addict, and give him the choice: Start a new life and become the greatest assassin in china, or return to his own world with no hope for a future. Rated M for language, bloody violence, and sexual content.
1. A Strange Meeting

A Strange Meeting

I was sitting in my room that fateful day, playing Dishonored for the third time in a row. It had been raining all week, but I was fine with that. I suppressed a chuckle as I performed a flawless drop assassination. I paused the game as I glanced out the window and sighed.

Don't get me wrong, I love video games as much as the next guy, but I'm also a fairly active person. I love the outdoors just as much, if not better than games. I checked the clock, noticing that it was nearly midnight. Time flies when you're bored.

Turning off the X-box, I cleaned up and headed to my computer. After downloading the newest chapters to my Kung Fu Panda fanfic, I stretched and flopped into bed. My thoughts kept me awake for a few hours. That and the sound of the other kids talking and whispering to each other.

I missed my parents. I mean, life in an orphanage wasn't all bad, but, I missed my parents. I wish that I could remember them better. Here I was, a fifteen year-old, almost in tears because I missed mommy and daddy. Pathetic, no? I mean, it's been ten years for Christ's sake, I should be over it.

Finally, around one-thirty, the noise started to fade away, and I drifted off to sleep. My last thought, was looking out into the night sky and seeing a shooting star, and making wish. My wish? To be someone.

I awoke to find myself sitting on a brick-and-stone square, roughly eight-feet by eight-feet. The first thing that popped into my head was; The Void. I mentally slapped myself for the stupid suggestion. Glancing around for a second, an idea popped into my head, and I pinched my arm until I almost bled. Which, might I add, hurt like a bitch.

"You are not dreaming." I whipped around 180. I stood simply dumbfounded as I found myself staring at the Outsider, next to whom stood Oogway. I had trouble finding the proper words, but Oogway beat me to it.

"Hello young Christopher." It took a moment, but I came up with the appropriate response. "Sup?" Sup? SUP!? That's the best that I could come up with? The Outsider seemed somewhat annoyed, but Oogway simply smiled and chuckled.

After a moment, the question that had been gnawing on my brain took form. "So, um, if this isn't a dream, then, is this the Void?"

"Yes." The Outsider replied. Funny, his voice was slightly different from how it was in the game. "I, or rather we, have brought you here to give you a choice." I felt my eyebrow rise. "For what?"

"A chance at a new life." Oogway replied. I mulled this over, with one question nagging at me constantly. "What for?" Oogway looked troubled. "There is an evil growing in my old home-""China, you mean?" I clapped a hand to my mouth, mentally slapping myself for interrupting.

"Yes. And I fear that my former students will not be enough to stop it. And I am unable to warn them." I nearly did a double take, realizing where this was going. "So you want me to be the messenger pigeon."

"No, and yes." Here, I was utterly confused. "Yes you are to warn them…" The Outsider began. "But you do not stop there." I really liked where this was going. "So I'm going to learn to be a Kung Fu warrior?" "No." My heart fell to my feet.

"You will be my assassin." My eyes must have looked like light bulbs, the way Oogway chuckled. I had to admit; that was much better. "Agreed. So what do I do?" The two shared a glance then looked back to me. The Outsider spoke with a wave of his hand. "You shall bear my mark, and become the ultimate assassin."

The back of my left hand burned like someone had taken a branding iron to it. "And to protect you, as well as your allies, the mask." Oogway handed the skull mask to me before whispering. "And to aid in your journey, the coat of the Warrior." He draped a black trench-coat with golden trim around my shoulders.

He stepped away as I put on the coat. "What now?" The Outsider smiled. "Be prepared. Your appearance will change in accordance with the world." Cool, maybe I'd be a tiger, or a leopard, or maybe even a wolf! "And also..." I found myself surrounded with a swirling light, slowly encasing my body. It seemed to be pulling me away from the two, drawing me down to the earth. "Don't die."

**Howdy, sorry for postin so slowly, just wanted to say, in later chapters, I'll be using magic terms. They'll be capitalized as to make them easier to find. ****For ex: **

**Instead of; "I blinked to the top of a rock." **

**It'll be; "I Blinked to the top of a rock." **

**And you get the Idea. Thanks Ya'll!**


	2. A Whole New World

A Whole New World

I was tumbling. Not sure how else to explain it. I was tumbling through the void at Mach speed, with only a slight idea of where I was going.

Fun already, wouldn't you say?

I finally came to a stop with a crash, more tumbling, only this time on hard ground, and then a splash. After a taking minute to let my aching body rest, I crawled out of the water, which turned out to be a small stream, and peeked through a cracked eyelid.

I was in the woods, Bamboo to be exact. Only a few feet away was a dirt road. Strangely enough, everything looked… cartoony? No, animated, that's a better word for it.

I took a moment to look myself over. I was wearing the trench-coat that Oogway had given me, with the skull mask lying beside me. What struck me most odd was the green-brown scales that covered my body, though the mark on my left hand was still visible.

I crawled over to the stream and checked my reflection. Sure enough, I was a lizard, what kind I have no idea. My nose, or rather snout, bothered me for a moment. I was more worried that the mask wouldn't fit (Crazy huh?), but I was fortunate enough to find that the mouth/nose piece too, had been altered.

Placing the mask on my face, where it fit snugly, I slid my hands in my pockets, I nearly jumped when my fingers touched metal. I removed the objects to find a folding blade in one pocket (Which might I add, is awesome!), and a multi-shot crossbow in the other (Also awesome!).

Giving the blade a few spins, I was finally able to catch it by the grip after half an hour (Hey, it's harder than it looks!). I thinks it's safe to say that I forgot what I was supposed to do in the first place, so I simply took a look down the road and began walking.

I was smart enough to put the weapons back in my pockets before I started walking, because not too long after I started did I come across a guard caravan, all rhinos and armed to the teeth. Considering my appearance, I thought it better to stay in the shadows.

I followed the group for several yards quite safely before we came to a bridge which led into a small village. "I can't be here already, can I?" The guards apparently heard my little question, because they whipped around to face my direction.

"Who's there!?" I ducked a little lower. "Show yourself!" They were aiming crossbows at the bushes, at MY bush.

"Wait!" I threw my hands up in the universal symbol of surrender. "Please don't shoot!" I crept out of the bushes, to which the rhino's backed away from me. One of them piped up. "What is it?"

I realized that I was still wearing my mask, which I slowly removed, revealing my reptilian face. "A chameleon?" Oh, so that's what I am. Funny, I don't have any horns. "Yes..?"

"What is your kind doing so far north?" The lead rhino (I'm guessing) asked. I racked my brains for an answer that wouldn't make me sound insane. "I'm… visiting an old friend..?" They obviously didn't buy it. I would need to work on my lying.

Their crossbows honed in once again. "Ready, aim…" Ah, fuck it. I placed my mask on and waved my hand. "Fire!"

I blinked once as the arrows stopped mere inches from my body. A grin spread across my lips. "Sweet."


	3. Allons-y!

Allons-y!

Sidestepping the arrows, I pulled the crossbows from the rhinos' hands, counting down the seconds, and replaced them facing their masters. 3.. 2.. 1.. Time resumed its original course, with a few exceptions; the arrows buried themselves in a tree, and the rhinos' nearly all had heart-attacks when they realized that they were aiming their weapons at themselves.

With that, imagine their surprise when they realized that I was right next to them. "Who are you?!" The leader bellowed, while pointing his spear at me.

"Really?"

I shouldn't have done it.

"Really?!"

I really shouldn't have done it.

"I just used the awesome power to slow time, and you're asking me who I am in a threatening tone?!"

I did it though. I pulled out my weapon and flipped it, extending the blade, using Blink to teleport right in front of the boss rhino, and sliced the spear in half.

"What have you got to say about that awesome shit? 'Where do you come from?!' 'What's your mother's name?!'? Any more stupid comments!?" The rhino simply looked at me dumbfound, before breaking down in tears out of desperation.

"Ple-please… don't hur-hurt meee…" I REALLY should NOT have done it.

I slapped him. Repeatedly. "My god… Pull yourself together man!" He glared at me somewhat hurt. "What are you?"

I considered my answer, caught off-guard a little. "I'm Corvo. And I'm the Assassin." Assassin. Yeah, that's a great choice of words, everyone's gonna trust me now. Wrong.

The rhinos cringed and looked almost like they were going to run away, until, for some odd reason, they started grinning. And laughing. **Hard**.

Needless to say, I was uncomfortable. Either they didn't take me seriously, or they knew something that I didn't.

"There you are! We've been waiting at the checkpoint for almost an hour!" I whipped around and saw both the first, and last, thing that I wanted to see; The Furious Five.

Master Tigress (Who may I say was _hawt!_ Hey, I'm weird like that, so sue me.) glanced me over, and seemed to stop at my folding blade. "What's taking so long? And who's this?" Yep, same annoyed, pissed off, about-to-tear-your-head-off attitude. That's my girl!

I did the first thing to pop in my head. I bowed low, nearly impaling myself on my sword (Which I had forgotten was in my hand.), and introduced myself.

"My dear lady, I am Corvo." She gave me an incredulous look, until that is, the rhino boss piped up. "He's the assassin." Followed by a swift kick in the face from Tigress.

I stepped back a few feet and tried rub my face, but remembered that my mask was still on. Oops. I folded my blade and placed it in my pocket. "Okay, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot-" Another kick in the face.

The mask was doing a surprisingly good job of protecting my facial area. "… Ow. Okay, let's start over." I blocked the next kick (surprisingly). "I'm Corvo." I made the 'and you are?' gesture, despite already knowing them all.

I took a moment to look over the group, who were still looking frozen from shock. There was Viper, Po, Monkey, Crane, Mantis… hold on, where was mantis?!

I was answered with a jab in my back, even though Tigress was to my front. "Oh, there you are."

"You say somethin'?" Another jab in my shoulder. Funny, I thought, he sounds just like Seth Rogan.

"Oh…" I reached around and grabbed him off my neck before he could jab again. "Nothing, Master Mantis." I set him down on a tree stump while blocking a punch from Tigress. "Now, if could be a gentleman, and let the adults fight…" I trailed off when I saw the trademark antenna twitch.

I and the feline master continued the little game of block-the-kitty, for a good half hour before the others joined in.

"So, you're the Assassin?" I blocked a kick from Po, as well as an unwelcome tail slash from Viper.

"Yep, though probably not the one you're thinking of, if you've heard of me." He guffaw. "Dude, who hasn't heard of you? You're world renowned!"

I nodded slowly while blocking a tail whip. "Eeyup, not the one you're thinking of, I just got started, like, an hour ago. I haven't even killed anyone yet."

"Huh, that's not right, the Assassin's been at large for like, three months now, and killed, like, three dozen people." I would have done a double-take if I wasn't so busy. "Wow. Famous guy."

It took a moment, but I realized something. I had the advantage, multiple ones actually; The mark, plus the knowledge of how the Five fight.

Po was a little harder because he was so random, but no matter. That's where magic comes in handy.

I Blinked behind Po and pinched the spot where his neck met his shoulder, **hard**. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. "Sorry Po."

I Blinked again to the top of a large boulder, not ten feet from where I was before.

Tigress came forward after checking on Po, and squared me off. "Come down here you coward!"

I removed my mask and rubbed the arch of my snout between my eyes (Wow, snout, that's gonna take some getting used to...). "I didn't come here to fight or harm anyone."

She growled slightly. "Well then, it seems luck is against you."

After a moment of thinking, the perfect response popped into my head. "I didn't want to fight, I wanted to help. But if it's a fight you want, then , to coin a phrase; Allons-y!"


	4. Fanfiction Powers, Activate!

FanFiction Powers, Activate!

Blinking down into the fray, I was immediately confronted by Tigress, whom may I add, was totally and utterly pissed. I loved seeing her fight in the movies and show, I loved the style. But this, this was... different. More passionate. Less anger, more desperation. I was, afraid. I sorta felt bad meeting each strike with a block, kinda like I was adding insult to injury. If only I knew what the injury was.

It was then that a certain flabby panda caught my attention. Shit. If Tigress had a _thing_ for Po, who I did the Spock-hold on just a few minutes earlier, then I was definitely on her bad side. Not someplace I want to be. I glanced over at the other four, and the quickly recovering panda, who all just tried to stay out of the way. Apparently it wasn't someplace they wanted to be either.

So, feeling extremely uncomfortable, I broke the vocal silence, ducking below a high-aimed kick. "You seem tense." No fuck sherlock.

"Tense?! You're calling _me_ tense?!" Another high-aimed kick. "Hey, just trying to make conversation."

Finally tired of blocking, I struck out with my elbow, planting it in her chest, which strangely, was soft. Wind knocked out of her, Tigress stumbled back a few feet, obviously surprised that I landed a hit. "Who the hell are you?"

Needless to say, I was surprised. Tigress cussing? That only happens in fanfictions. To be precise, _**MY**_ fanfictions. What else is like the Fics? "Well?"

I snapped back to the moment. "Well, what?" She growled irritatedly. "Don't play games, Assassin. I ask you, who are you?" Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the others creeping closer.

"Christopher." Her eyebrow popped up in question. "Yes, I'm not from around here. But I know you all just the same." I rolled one eye around to see Viper, while keeping the other trained on Tigress (Gross, huh?). "Like you, Viper, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, Po..." My gaze returned to the female tiger. "And you, Tigress..." I was wondering how far I could push this, so I remembered something from one of my fanfictions.

"Or do you prefer to go by, Chunhua?" The look of shock plastered across her face was enough for me. I just hit the pressure point.

"How do you know that name?" Now _she_ looked scared. "I know everything about _you_, Tigress. Born during the early Ming Dynasty, orphaned at the age of six months, adopted at the age of five, current resident and protector of the Jade Palace, leader of the Furious Five, you battled Tai Lung two-and-a-half years ago, Lord Shen five months ago. You have had only one love in life, and that was progression, making yourself better at everything possible, up until your first confrontation with Lord Shen, that is. Now you posses a love for a person, one that surpasses even your skill."

I stopped to take a breath, and absorb the looks of shock and awe, then continued. "You are twenty-seven, you file your claws down until they are virtually none-existent, and you only have one fear, one that you face at all times. One that you fight and run from every second of every day." I looked right into her panicked, almost child-like eyes. "Yourself."

I nearly died when she crumpled to the ground and started crying. Guess I went a little too far.

Removing my mask, I knelt down beside her and placed a finger under her chin, tilting her head up toward me. "And now that you know your past, and present, what will you make of your future?"

Did I seriously say that? When did I turn into Oogway?

She then looked up at me with huge kitten eyes (My heart stopped.), and spoke in barely above a whisper. "What are you, really?"

It took me a moment, but I found the words. "A friend."

I had almost forgotten that the others were there, until I received a hard slap to the back of my head. The last thing I thought was; Was that a tail, or a leg?

o.00.o.00.o

I awoke in darkness. But since I could feel stone, and smell dampness, I deduced that I wasn't dead. Getting to my feet was tricky, but I was able to manage. I eased myself along the wall until I found the door.

Trying the handle, I found that it was locked. And that I was in a cell.

I felt myself over and came to the conclusion: I was naked, and hungry. (Not to mention, slightly horny. Hey, don't say that you haven't woken up like that.)

Getting down on all fours, I felt around the room. Fortunately, my eyes were adjusting. I was able to make out the outline of the door, and a bed.

Yanking the blanket off the cot, I wrapped it around myself like a towel. Second on the to-do list, I reached up and felt the back of my head. There was a slight bruise from where I was hit, but otherwise I was okay.

Circling the room a few times, I tried the door again. Again, no dice. But I was able to pick up on a conversation.

"... No, Tigress. You know what Shifu said. No one goes near the assassin until he gets here."

"I know what he said, Viper!" I drew back in slight surprise, before returning my attention back to the exchange.

"... I'm sorry... It's just that, no one has ever known that much about me, much less my name. Not even Shifu knows that much."

"Kinda sad ain't it?" I recognized Po instantly. "Not even your adoptive dad knows. Yet a complete stranger does."

I heard the sound of pure knee muscle hitting tender flesh, making me wince slightly out of sympathy. "Oohoohoohooooo... my tenders..."

I smiled lightly. Same old Po.

I nearly jumped back when the door opened, falling on my butt and struggling to pull my fallen sheet back over me.

Outlined in the doorway stood Tigress, Viper, and in the center, none other than Shifu.

**Hey all, sorry for posting so slowly. Microsoft Word decided to break, and I had to get it fixed.**


	5. First Kill

First Kill.

Shifu stood in the doorway, looking me over like some new puzzle for him to try and solve. I took great care in wrapping the sheet around me, this time tighter so as to avoid any more 'slip-ups'. I shifted uncomfortably as the three masters looked me over with their piercing gazes. The one that seemed the least hostile was Tigress (Also known as Chunhua.).

The mere thought made me shiver.

"So, you are the Assassin?" Shifu stated with a somewhat skeptical look. I took me a second to realize it was a question.

"Well... That is a good question. And the good answer is; Yes, and no." I received an irritated glare. "I am known as the Assassin, where I come from. But, upon hearing of this other Assassin, I have come to the conclusion that the Assassin of which you speak, and I, are not even close to the same." An eyebrow pop.

I just then had an idea. "How many did you say the Assassin killed? Three hundred, was it?" Po tilted his hand back'n'forth from behind the others. "Something like that."

I nodded with a slight smirk. "Uh-huh. I have only killed five people." I held up a hand with my fingers spread out, until I realized that I had only four fingers, to which I added a finger.

"Wait!" Po interjected. "You said that you hadn't killed anyone!"

I smirked a little bigger and held up a finger. "In this country, I haven't. In my country, I'm well known." I leaned forward slightly. "As the Ghost. And as I said, I've killed only five people, corrupt officials all of them." I couldn't believe I was doing this. This was the biggest bluff ever!

"Why five?" Tigress pointed out.

"There were only five that ruined my life. I mean, I did have to kill some of their pawns, but that was only out of necessity, defense, if you will." Tigress, and even Viper gave me a somewhat sad look (Tigress surprising me by doing so.). Shifu was the only one unchanged.

"In what way did they 'ruin your life', that was deserving of death?" He asked. I'm truly glad he did.

"The murder of my one love, the Empress, for I was her personal guard. The kidnapping of my one true friend, the Princess. Framing me for the crimes. And the unnecessary murder of thousands through a man-made plague, all for the sake of money."

I sighed before straightening myself. Good thing that I was a member of the Drama Club. "If not these crimes be punishable by death, then what would?"

Shifu's expression softened, only a little, but still noticeably.

"If what you say is true, then they were indeed deserving of death. But why you alone?" I pondered for a moment before coming up with the (Seemingly) perfect answer. "The young Princess was my responsibility, as was the Empress. It was my duty to retrieve the girl, and avenge my love."

The mark on my hand throbbed slightly, causing me to absentmindedly rub it. "And I wasn't alone."

Shifu gave me a confused look, and opened his mouth to speak when Crane bolted through the door up to his master. "Master Shifu!" He made a rushed bow. "Bandits in the Valley, unlike any we've seen."

Shifu scowled before answering. "Tigress, Viper, Po, go with Crane to the Valley. I shall follow you shortly." The four bowed low with a "Yes Master." before leaving in a sprint.

The small master turned to me once the others were out of earshot. "I believe I have heard of you before. The Ghost, you say?" I nodded, somewhat confused. How could he have heard of me? Almost as if reading my thoughts, he said. "In a dream, my old Master Oogway, told me of the coming of one, one that was 'broken' he said. A Pariah, a Ghost."

He studied my face. "I thought it was only a dream but now I know it to be a vision." Screams could be heard outside.

"Will you help us?" I looked in his eyes, and found an almost pleading look. I thought for a moment, I was meant to help them, but they didn't trust me. Would they just use me, then send me back to prison? I was torn on what to do, but my own words came back to me.

"Where's my cloak?"

o.00.o.00.o

I could see perfectly from my perch on the rooftop. Multiple boar, crocks, and leopard could be seen battling the Five and Po, and they were winning. Most likely due to the mechanical suits that they were wearing, they looked like something out of the Steampunk universe.

From my roost, I could see Tigress on the ground, clutching her stomach. Blood dribbled from her nose and she was not getting up. A leopard in a bronze suit was approaching, and I could see a sickeningly jagged blade in his hand.

Not on my watch. The mask slid onto face, the familiar metal settling firmly into place.

_Don't think. Do._ My boots clacked against the tile roofing as I gained speed.

100 yards... 50 yards... 20... 10!

I jumped, and landed planting my boot on the leopard's head, a sickening crunch echoing out. When I rose, he did not, and silence fell in the square.

Eyes were on me as I drew my blade and pointed it straight at the horde. One stepped forward in a fairly heavily armored suit. He was a Fox, a big one, and I'm guessing the leader. "And who the hell are you?!"

I could feel the mark on my hand ignite, blazing like a forest fire. "I am Corvo Attano, and I'm the Assassin!"

I raised my fist level with my eyes and Blinked in front of the fox, driving the point of my blade into the chink of his armor.

I brought my muzzle to his ear and whispered as I pulled my blade from his still-beating heart. "I am, _your_ assassin."

A gurgle escaped his throat before he crumpled to the ground in a massive heap.

I swung my blade once and brought it up to my face, defensive-dagger style. "Who's next?"


	6. My Blessing, My Curse

My Blessing, My Curse

After the initial shock wore off from the death of the leader, all hell broke loose. A leopard bolted toward me, his spear level with my chest, screaming bloody-murder. I simply side-stepped with a swipe of my dagger, reducing the length of his spear substantially.

He came to a dead stop not two feet from me, where I grinned like a madman beneath my mask.

"Nice. Any more fuck-tastic idea's?" I was answered by the leopard drawing his sword. "Not what I was going for, but good enough."

The next few moments saw me fencing with the leopard, which, when I moments, I mean approximately 0.2 seconds. It ended with me slashing his throat. (Note to self; Remember to wash stains out of cloak.)

Wiping the blood from my eyepieces, I spun the blade in my hand until it folded back into its hilt. "Not the smartest idea." Looking out into the fray, I took note that Tigress had regained her composure and was battling it out with two leopards, Viper was punching a croc with his own fist, Monkey was using his bow staff to take down two boars and a leopard, Crane was picking up enemies and tossing them into others (With great strain I might add, due to the heavy nature of their armor.), and Mantis, well, I couldn't really see Mantis, but the number of enemies dropping for no apparent reason told me that he was doing his job.

Finally, Po had two crocs in a headlock with one arm, and with the other was... eating... an.. apple. To this day I still wonder why I was surprised.

"Po!" He looked at me innocently as I shouted over the sound of chaos. "Fight now, food later!" I could barely recognize a groan as Po cast a forlorn glance at his apple before tossing it over his shoulder.

I turned to the remaining three opponents and took a stance, placing the folded blade back in my pocket. My opponents shared a glance before charging with their blades trained toward me.

"Let's see if we can make time stand still." I felt my mark ignite, and with a wave of my hand, the growing pressure seemed to disband, instead engulfing the entire world, and slowing the movement of the three attackers. I looked to my left and saw Tigress watching me from the corner of her eye.

I drew my repeating crossbow and fired three bolts, one for each throat. After replacing the weapon into it's holster, I slowly felt the axis of the world return as the three bandits dropped from the projectiles, skidding to my feet.

Drawing my cross-bow again, I took aim and dropped one of Tigress's opponents, as well as any bandit unlucky enough to stand alone. Until, that is, I ran out of bolts, and Po was beginning to get backed into a corner by... an Elephant? How the Hell I miss that?!

I grimaced as I glanced at the fallen corpses at my feet. Knowing what I had to do, I reached down to the nearest one and plunged my fingers into the open neck wound. After a moment of feeling around, I found the bolt and wrenched it out in a spew of saliva and blood (Thus making my top 3 least favorite memories).

Reaching into my pocket, I retrieved an incendiary cartridge and attached it to the bolt, loading it into the crossbow. Taking aim, I exhaled slowly, and squeezed the release. The bolt flew straight and pierced the Elephant's armor, setting the whole creature ablaze. The bandit thrashed about on the ground, screaming for mercy, unknowing of who their attacker was, and within moments, he was dead.

Fortunately, this display grabbed the attention of the remaining bandits. Time for acting class again. Taking my time, I strode over to the smoldering corpse and planted my boot on the thing's ashy chest.

"Enough!" I surveyed the crowd of bandits and Masters alike, and used the most authoritative voice I could muster. "I grow tired of this skirmishing. Any more resistance, WILL be punished-" I spun my folding blade, extending the deadly edge to its full length. "-By me."

The square was filled with a metallic clatter as the remaining bandits dropped their weapons and began removing their suits. I nodded in satisfaction. "That's more like it."

After the bulk of the guard had arrived I thought it best to make myself scarce. So, there I was, crouched on a nearby rooftop overseeing the processing of the bandits. The ones still able to breathe, that is.

I hadn't realized just how late it was until the sun had began to set, and now the stars could just barely be seen in the waning rays of the sun. I crouched in the shadow of a chimney, gripping my blade beneath my cloak.

I had shut my eyes momentarily, but a slight shuffling behind me put my senses on high alert. Which was another interesting story, it would seem that my new form came with enhanced senses as well.

The shuffling sounded again, and I could distinguish the sound of rough paw pads, as well as the distinct scent of cat.

"If you wanted to sneak up on me, then you shouldn't approach from down-wind." I said in barely above a whisper. "You could smell me?" Yep, it was Tigress. "Reptiles rely sixty percent on olfactory sense." I couldn't remember how accurate it was, but it sounded right.

"You're a reptile?" I gave her a somewhat scared look over my shoulder (Which was entirely pointless due to me still wearing my mask.). "Yeah... You didn't know that I was a chameleon?" She shrugged somewhat uncomfortably. "Well, I knew you LOOKED like a chameleon... I just didn't know that you were one."

I removed my mask and lowered my hood. "Why not?" She narrowed her eyes at me. "You certainly aren't mortal. For all we know, you could be disguising yourself." I nodded, finally understanding. They thought that I was some god or something. Understandable. "Fair 'nough."

We sat in relative silence, well, I crouched, she stood. "You can sit you know. I won't bite." She seemed hesitant, but eventually she sat a few feet from me. I was about to scream FIRE! just to break the awkward silence, but luckily, she spoke first.

"Are you a god?" I was waiting for that. "No."

"An Immortal?" I shrugged. "I can die, if that's what you're asking."

"Than how did you know all those things? And how are you able to disappear and reappear in different places? And kill without moving? Like those three you faced down, you simple gazed at them, and it was as if something killed them instantly." I waved my hand slowly.

"Okay, okay... For one, it's called teleporting, when I disappear and reappear, and I can't kill instantly, I simply stop time temporarily." Her eyes simply widened, and I realized I probably just proved myself wrong to her. I raised my hand and showed her the mark. "I was simply blessed by an Immortal. This mark allows me to do these things, and so much more. It's the Blessing, and the Curse, of the Outsider."

She appeared thoughtful for a moment. "Is that how you knew about me?" I shook my head and pondered the correct phrasing for what I said next. "No, those things... Those thing I wrote with my own hand." The Tiger shook her head slowly. "What do you mean?"

I looked her square in the eye. "The Outsider is my Master, as well as, my Friend. He can, alter, time and space. Make it so that things never happened, or change the circumstances so that things do happen. He is the one that brought me here." Tigress looked at the roof we were sitting on for several moments.

"Do you miss her?" I was surprised when I looked at Tigress to see her studying me sadly. "Who?" She inhaled slowly then said, "Your Empress." I averted my gaze back to the guard below as the filed the last of the bandits into a carriage. I honestly didn't know what to say, I was good at making up stories, but the way she was studying me, I couldn't lie to her. But then I remembered someone; Chloe. My one true love, that died of cancer only a year after we started going out. After which I seriously contemplated suicide for over a month. And with that in mind, I didn't have to turn to hide my lie, I turned to hide my tears.

"Every day." The pain I held that moment hurt the same as it did two years ago. The memories of Chloe, loving me, comforting me, those were what kept me going. They were my Blessing.

They were my Curse.


End file.
